In residential construction, it is common for a residential structure to include an attic space disposed above the uppermost living area and beneath the decking of the roof. Often, attic spaces are configured so as to not be conducive to everyday occupancy, but may be useable for storage of infrequently accessed items and/or utility equipment such as air conditioning units and the like.
To provide access to attic spaces from living areas below, there is commonly provided an access hole in the ceiling of the living space. In order to enter the attic space, a person in the living space must typically climb a ladder and move aside a panel or other means by which the access hole in the attic floor is normally sealed. Another common arrangement is the provision of “fold-down” or pull-down stairs in the attic floor opening. Countless examples of such attic stairs have been shown in the prior art.
Often, the opening in a residential attic floor is the only means of ingress to and egress from an attic space. This can pose a number of problems and/or dangers. For example, it is possible for a ladder by which a person has used to access the attic space to be inadvertently tipped or moved, making it impossible for those in the attic space to subsequently exit. Likewise, fold-down or pull-down attic stairs are prone to breakage or jamming, making attic egress impossible.
Moreover, the circumstances that may have caused a person or persons to access the attic space in the first place may preclude subsequent exiting of the attic space by the same means with which it was entered. For example, as has been shown by recent catastrophic flooding in the Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama regions, rapidly rising flood waters may force residents to seek the high ground of an attic space. Tragically, there have been many reports of drowning deaths resulting from residents fleeing to attic spaces to avoid rising flood waters, and being subsequently being unable to extricate themselves from the attic spaces. Residential fires have also been known to force residents to retreat to and be subsequently trapped in attic spaces.
Mechanisms do exist for providing roof access to a structure from within the structure itself. Horizontal hinged covers or doors are commonly used for roof scuttles, automatic fire vents, ceiling access doors, basement doors and the like. A conventional roof scuttle 10 is depicted in FIG. 1. Roof scuttles such as shown in FIG. 1 generally comprise a rectangular frame 12 which surrounds an opening to be covered with the frame 12 being coupled with a hinge mechanism 14 to a door 16 for motion of the door 16 between an open and a closed position. The conventional roof scuttle has a vertical sheet metal inner wall with an outwardly extending 90° horizontal nailing flange 18 at the bottom of the wall 12 which flange is nailed or otherwise secured to the roof deck 20. Roofing materials are then used to waterproof the outer wall of the frame 12 by rolling the roofing along the roof surface and then up the vertical walls of the frame 12 and securing the roofing material thereto. An exemplary prior art roofing scuttle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,020 to Cermola et al., entitled “Universal Roof Scuttle.”
Roofing scuttles such as depicted in FIG. 1 are most often used in commercial structures, and are believed to have several disadvantages, particularly in the context of residential structures. First, conventional roof scuttles are unsightly and do not tend to blend in with surrounding roofing materials. Second, conventional roof scuttles project upward from the roof surface, and as such can be susceptible to being dislodged, especially in harsh weather conditions, such as hurricanes or tropical storms. Finally, conventional roof scuttles are prone to leakage at the interface between flange 18 and the roof surface.
Thus, is it believed that it would be desirable to provide an improved means of emergency egress from an attic space that does not suffer from the perceived deficiencies of the prior art.